During many medical procedures, various fluids are injected into patients for purposes of diagnosis or treatment. An example of one such fluid is contrast media used to enhance angiography, magnetic resonance imaging, or computerized tomography imaging. Such fluids may also be used in other modalities, such as intravenous pyelogram (IVP) and cardiology. The injectors used in these procedures are often automated devices that expel fluid from a syringe, through a tube, and into a patient.
Injectors suitable for these applications generally utilize relatively large volume syringes and tend to be capable of producing relatively large flow rates and injection pressures. For these reasons, injectors for such applications typically include large, high mass injection motors and drive trains. The motor and drive train of an injector are typically housed in an injection head, which is supported by a floor, wall, or a ceiling mounted arm. In order to perform an injection procedure using one of these injectors, a syringe may be operatively connected to an injector (e.g., via a face plate thereof), and a drive ram of the injector may then be moved to expel fluid from the syringe. Thereafter, the drive ram may be retracted, and the used syringe may then be disconnected from the injector.